Flag removal vote passes

6 Jul, 2015

South Carolina’s Senate votes in favour of the removal of the Confederate flag that has flown from a 30-foot pole as part of a Confederate Soldier Monument in front of the Statehouse steps since 2000, to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. The 37-3 vote easily surpasses the two-thirds majority needed during a third and final vote that sends the measure to the House of Representatives. Senate President Pro Tempore Leatherman, who voted for its removal says:

That issue had to be resolved.

Governor Haley:

The South Carolina Senate today rose to this historic occasion, with a large majority of members from both parties coming together in the spirit of unity and healing that is binding our state back together and moving us forward in the right direction. I applaud the Senate’s decisive action, look forward to the Senate giving the bill third reading in the morning, and ask that the House act swiftly and follow the Senate’s lead.